Saturday, April 26, 2008

Obama in Marion

Not only is today graduation at IWU, it's also the first time since Bobby Kennedy that a presidential candidate will come to this metropolitan of the Mid-West. Too bad I can't go.

Since it's an election year, I'm sure we will have many chances to ask questions like these. For many it will seem the height of ignorance even to ask them. But the ironic thing is that it will seem "ignorant" to people with completely different answers!
  • Can a person be a true Christian and vote for a Democrat?
  • Is abortion the only issue in a national election for a Christian?
  • Is it God's will to make the law mirror God's law?
  • Is there a Christian position on war, capital punishment, poverty, and the environment?

It probably won't be till the Fall that we would ask these questions and open the floor for discussion. I predicted way back after the Iowa primaries that Obama would be elected. I've wondered if I was wrong from time to time, but I'm still sticking by the prediction.

We'll see...

8 comments:

Ken Schenck said...

My wife, 7, and 8 year old went to hear Obama this morning while I was at graduation listening to Jo Anne Lyon speak--the best graduation talk I have ever heard. More on Monday...

I asked my wife what her main impression and take away were. Her main feeling was that this was the first time in her life that her vote might actually matter in an election here in Indiana. I personally voted for Bush in 2000 for two main reasons: 1) This is Indiana, my vote won't make any difference and 2) What damage can a President do?

No comment on how I feel about that vote today. I sure wish it had been McCain running in 2000!!!

As far as her impression of Obama, she felt like this was the first time since Ross Perot that a candidate was being up front and honest with her.

By the way, one of our friends--who came into the gymnasium a Clinton supporter--noticed that "Billy Bob Clinton" was over in all white Hartford City today. Wonder if he mentioned to them that Obama was over here in "black" Marion?

By the way, didn't Clinton win in Pennsylvania? Wonder what their strategy was there?

I'm sorry if I'm wrong but the two Clintons have always smelled to me of deceit and manipulation. Anyway, being able to "look Obama in the eyes" and see his humility and honesty has at least changed this friend's vote.

P.S. She's a fervent Christian, for those who immediately had her pegged for an atheist or, worst, a Democrat.

Anonymous said...

How lame! Some kind of "professor!" Can a true Christian vote for a Democrat? The only candidate a true Christian can vote for IS a Democrat.
Jesus IS a Democrat.

Anonymous said...

Err...whoever posted anonymously, you Do realise that your "Jesus is a democrat" is an anachronistic statement, don't you? And what has political beliefs have to do with academic ability? Why the slur on Ken's professorship? That was rather unfair.

Ken Schenck said...

I don't know if anonymous was joking... I have some friends who post things like that just to have fun or get things going.

But if s/he was serious, it's a good illustration of what I said. There are lots of Republicans in my circles who don't think you can be a Christian and a Democrat. Then there are others who think it would be impossible for a Christian to be a Republican.

I do personally think that the question is silly. I believe there are equally devout Christians in both parties.

By the way, I have to correct my comment about Bill Clinton being in Hartford City yesterday. He's there today.

::athada:: said...

I must have been "entertaining Schencks" without realizing it - I could have been sitting next to them.

We noticed that the section behind Obama was being filled selectively by staffers. Almost all older, white people - perhaps since Obama already has the black & young vote, he needs to chip at Hillary's base? That's my guess since there were plenty of young and black people there Saturday.

I like his message and tone, but the populist stuff makes me a little uneasy. Then again, I'm not personally suffering from factory closures and high gas prices like lots in Marion. He did, however, admit that gas prices won't be coming down much because of China and India's growing economies. I was glad to hear mention of foreign countries without reference to immigration or bombing somebody.

For the Q & A, his answer to "What are the first 3 things you'd do" was:
1) Get out of Iraq
2) Universal healthcare
3) Fix our energy

::athada:: said...

We'll see if my camera picked up the audio... posts to come.

Ken Schenck said...

I happened to catch the Rev. Wright at the NAACP meeting last night on CNN. I'm not sure if I completely agree with everything he said, but three things are worth pointing out:

1. He is not Obama. People shouldn't vote for or against Obama because of this man's personality or opinions. On personality, the differences are quite noticeable. Although I did not think his speech had a divisive tone, he clearly says things that in many white communities will cause anger.

My sense is, however, that this is an inappropriate response, because he does not himself speak in an angry way. He presents positions that should be heard and considered, even if we do not in the end accept them.

2. That leads me to my second observation--this man is really, really smart. This man is highly educated and, I suspect, as smart as anyone who would be reading this blog. Man, he was smart!

3. The sound bites this morning are misleading, just what you would expect from the media (by the way, I've picked up a pretty clear Clinton bias in the Indianapolis channel 13 coverage--she's always the follow up coverage and the sound bites they pick for her are generally more helpful than the ones they pick for him).

They played a segment of the speech where Wright was arguing that when John F. Kennedy speaks with an accent, people don't call him uneducated. But when the same black person speaks with an accent, they say he or she is uneducated.

The clip makes it sound like he was making fun of John F. Kennedy. His point was rather than African American ways and thinking are different not inferior.

I'll leave it at that...

Rev. Rick Carder '87 / ' 03 said...

Obama article fitting!

Thanks Ken for your remarks. I too wish I could have attended the Obama if for no other reason but to be a part of history. A presidential hopeful in Marion, Indiana is a pretty good thing.

While the political views of Obama I can not agree with I do think that having this kind of attention is not bad. I met (though briefly) Sen. Obama in Wheaton, Illinois when I lived there. While it was only at a parade I can now say I am a part of history.

Your question about Christian and Democrates is fair! Many of the views of today's Democrate is not in-keeping with a follower of Christ. Ye, neither are all of the Republican views. While we can not fully articulate the debate of this I appreciate your taking up the issue - worthy of our consideration! Followers of Christ must ask themselves these kind of questions.